1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clinical samplers and, more specifically, to clinical samplers having optical imaging capabilities for automatically analyzing test materials and results.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some forms of clinical testing, such as microbial or contaminant testing of food products, involve the reaction of testing strips to a liquid sample of the product to be tested. After exposure to the product, testing strips are allowed to develop and are then examined to determine the results of any reaction to target compounds in the liquid sample. In some cases, the developed strips are inserted into a strip reader for automated testing and analysis of the test results. For example, some readers use photodiodes to simply register the presence or absence of a reaction on the strip. These systems, however, are unable to provide an indication of the concentration of the target compounds in the samples.
More sophisticated readers use photodetectors to detect fluorescence emitted from the sample liquids after reactions with marker compounds. The presence or absence of target compounds is then determined based on the wavelength and strength of the fluorescence. These systems are frequently unable to detect small changes in the test strip, which leads to inaccuracies in the test results.
Some systems for determining the presence of a substance in a sample react the sample with a microchip having fluorescing compounds embedded therein, and then use a photodetector to determine whether light is being emitted from the reacted sample and microchip. Other sample analysis systems use a testing array or plate together with a conventional optical scanner, such as that used in connection with a personal computer, to acquire a color image of sample array. The color image of the sample wells in the array is then analyzed to determine the relative concentrations of target compounds in the sample liquid based on which sample wells have reacted and which have not. These systems are very complex, however, and require sophisticated instruments or components, such as fluorescent compounds, specifically tailored microchips, and multiple reaction vessels or wells.